I will say that they turned out awesome. This is my first foray into the deep waters but they turned out well. I will say that the crust was just a touch on the bland side so I will add more salt the next time plus I have another idea for that also. But really I expected disaster the first go round and what I got was the total opposite.

I will say I have never tasted a Malnati or Gino's but I have had quite a few UNO's. The texture of the crust was perfect. I could not have asked for better. They were both made in cast iron skillets which worked perfectly.

The doughs were not kneaded, really they were just mixed with my big spatula and put in the fridge overnight. I allowed them to come up to room (76) for 3 hours. The first one (sausage/ham) was baked with the skillet on the stone at a measured 453 for 30 min. As you can see it was a little overdone. The second was 26 min and that was just right.

The second pie was what really got me started on this whole pizza quest to begin with. There used to be an Uno's about 2 hours away and they had pie called the Sea Delico. They closed the joint about 3 or 4 years ago which was a total bummer as that pie was possibly the single greatest thing to grace my lips.

Since then I had become really bummed as I figured that would be a taste that I would never have again in my mouth. I will say that first time out I nailed it! Not 100% but better than 90. When I first bit into I was amazed and floored, I was giddy as a little schoolgirl.

I told the wife "you have got to try this". The look on her face was priceless. Im still giddy.

Please at this time I would like thank Pete,Loo,DKM,BTB and all the other folks that did all the legwork and put in the time so i could step up to the plate and hit one out of the park. I really mean that guys...thank you.

You did a terrific job, in all respects. I was expecting you to tell us that you kneaded the dough at KitchenAid speed 10 for 90 minutes .

It was also good to see that the deep-dish dough formulation I posted worked, especially since member Marty, for whom I prepared the dough formulation, apparently did not return to tell us whether he used the recipe or how it turned out. In your case, how much semolina flour did you use as percent of the total flour/semolina blend? And what is the size of your cast iron skillets?

I have tried enough things in my time (not just pizza making) to expect failure in the beginning and work towards success. I really did not expect to have a genuine success in the first shot.

I wasnt going to try this at all as I did not have a proper pan but I saw a post where somebody did it in a cast iron skillet and I thought "you idiot (that being myself) that skillet is a perfect pan".

The skillet size is 10 1/2 at the top and 9 3/8 at the bottom (thats I.D.).

Oh yeah I could see me running that dough thru the high speed and whipping it into an angel food pizza.

By any chance, did you divide the amount of dough in the dough formulation I posted in two for your two pizzas? I ran your skillet dimensions through the deep-dish dough calculating tool at http://www.pizzamaking.com/dd_calculator.html, based on the assumption that you pushed the dough up the sides of your skillets by 1 1/2" inches, and got the following for one pizza:

You will note that the total dough weight using a 15" straight-sided pan (with the dough pushed up the sides of the pan by 1 1/2") is a few ounces more than two dough balls with the weights given in the above table. Of course, you can alter the dough formulation to change the amount of salt and to omit the the cream of tartar. You didn't mention how far up the sides of your skillets you pushed the dough, but that number can also be changed using the deep-dish dough calculating tool.

I just used the posted percentages and plugged them into the the DD tool for my size pan skillet.

I think I used 1 5/8 as I wanted to have a bit of extra dough just in case I needed it. I didnt need it. But since I had it I just pulled the dough further up the sides and added more toppings and made the pies deeper.

I know that dough ball weight looks about right though as are the %'s.

What a beautiful crust!!!!!!!!!!AWESOME...I have been using 14" Chicago Metallic PSTK coated pans for the past year or so...I bake at 450 for around 25 minutes and never get a crunch look like that..Anybody have any ideas for differant time and temp? I do use a stone, bottom rack and use Crisco...I have a feeling the iron skillet is the secret...I also in the past paid due respects for all the help the forum gives..The people involved are the best and thanks to all of them again....Thunderstik,,you should try some Semolina..really tastes great..

UnConundrum, I used about 2fl oz according to my turkey baster. I just made the clarified butter with the garlic in it.

Just a light light sprinkled pinch of white pepper on the the base of the skin before toppings are added.

For complete prep, I used 3/4 of the pack of the imi crab (the wife threw away the packages), but the package sizes are pretty standard. I used about 1 cup of the really small shrimp (about the size of a quarter). I may sautee the shrimp next time.

I drained both the shrimp and the crab in a strainer. With the shrimp I pressed a bit as to get out some of the extra moisture. Then sprinkled both very lightly with some McCormick califonia style coarse blend garlic salt w/parsley.

The actual Uno pizza this was modeled after used ALOT of cheese. So I ended up using over a pound of cheese. Maybe a pound and 1/4, yeah I know its alot. I used a mix of slices and chunks, no shreded. The cheese is a low moisture part skim that is made at a dairy about a mile away. Its good stuff.

I layered the toppings in this order, first to last.CheeseSeafoodButterCheese SeafoodCheeseButter

Butter is just drizzled about.

Proscuitto was not in the original Uno, but I like it and added it in the cheese layers. I used about 1/2-3/4 cup just cut up in random sizes.

If I left anything out let me know. When it comes to toppings Im not real precice the way I am with crusts. I just "eyeball it" but what I have above will get you very close.

FLAVORMAN, First I would say make sure and verify your oven temps with a gauge/gun. As this was my first outing in DD I dont have enough experience with it to help you out as others around here do. But I will say having a dark or black pan will def help you out and making sure you allow plenty of time to preheat your oven.

Also, 14" is a large size pie (read alot of mass) for a home oven. Make sure your stone is big enough and thick enough for the job, otherwise it may run out of thermal retention.

Im sure if ya post up some pics there will be much advice given. SorryI could not be of more help.